Some Lawmakers, Parents Upset over Teaching of Islam

Some Lawmakers, Parents Upset over Teaching of Islam

Article excerpt

NASHVILLE -- Tennessee seventh-graders spend a portion of their
time in a world history course studying "the world of Islam."

The amount of time spent on the topic, and what students are
actually learning during that time, has some lawmakers and parents
in an uproar.

"There is a big difference between education and indoctrination,"
U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said in a statement issued
Thursday.

"It is reprehensible that our school system has exhibited this
double-standard, more concerned with teaching the practices of Islam
than the history of Christianity. Tennessee parents have a right to
be outraged and I stand by them in this fight."

Blackburn's criticism joins the calls of state lawmakers and
parents in several Tennessee counties upset over the middle school
curriculum. Parents in Maury, Williamson and other counties have
expressed concerns about the class. They say their children were
required to memorize the five pillars of Islam and to write "Allah
is the only God" as part of an assignment, according to several
local and national media reports.

Both are basic tenets of the Islamic religion, and simply
learning them or repeating them doesn't make anyone Muslim, said
Paul Galloway, executive director of advocacy organization American
Center for Outreach.

"To learn what the first pillar is has nothing to do with
indoctrination. You can't trick someone into being a Muslim," said
Galloway, who is Muslim.

There is a basic level of misunderstanding driving this fear and
outrage, he said. In Arabic the word "Allah" means God. Christians
who speak Arabic use the word Allah to talk about God all the time,
Galloway said.

He noted there is a difference between teaching students about
religion and proselytizing, and argued no one is in favor of public
schools trying to convert children to any particular religion.

Elizabeth Fiveash, director of legislative affairs for the
Tennessee Department of Education, sent an email to lawmakers
Tuesday in response to concerns about the curriculum. In her email,
obtained by The Tennessean, she acknowledges the "Islamic World" is
covered in seventh grade. But she notes Christianity, Judaism,
Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Shinto are also covered in
various courses throughout middle school and high school.

Students have learned the same content included in the seventh-
grade curriculum for years, Fiveash said. The information was mainly
included in the sixth-grade curriculum until the state Board of
Education adopted new content standards in July 2013, she said. …